Deal with the Devil
by LeoniaKat
Summary: Natalie confronts Lacroix and that's all I'm going to tell you...


Deal with the Devil  
  
By Leonia  
  
Disclaimers: I don't own any of these characters, nor am I making any money off them. Feedback is welcome. I'm considering a sequel to this, but I think that it's not necessary...  
  
Natalie sat at her desk, finishing one of the many reports which had accumulated during her recent vacation. She had taken a spontaneous long weekend to have time to think about recent events. Nick and she were barely speaking, only conversing when they had a case. Not that she didn't know why... She knew it all had to do with Valentine's Day. She had regained her memories of that day within a week, though she hadn't told Nick.  
  
She stretched as she considered the revelations she'd made on her time off. She had had an epiphany. That was why she had brought a change of clothes to work tonight and why she wasn't heading directly home. She had a meeting with a certain ancient pain-in-the-arse.  
  
Later that night  
  
Nat walked into the dark club, the music pounding so loudly it almost hurt her ears and she wondered how the vampires here could stand it. Brushing those thoughts off for the time being, she strode towards the bar. He wasn't visible, but that didn't mean that he wasn't there. She confidently walked up to the bar, recognizing the bartender. He nodded slightly to her in acknowledgment. He came over to take her order but before he could speak she did. "Where's Lacroix?"  
  
He gave her a surprised look as he silently appraised whether or not he should tell her. Shrugging slightly, he spoke, "He's in his office, but-"  
  
She had already heard what she wanted to know and she was already moving away from the bar. She moved down the back hallway and stopped at the door with the 'office' sign on it. She didn't bother knocking - he would already know she was there. Nick, in one of his rare talkative moods, had mentioned that he could recognize a person's heartbeat. She was quite sure Lacroix would remember hers.  
  
He was at his desk and he shot her a disapproving look as she entered, "Do you always enter rooms without knocking, Doctor Lambert?"  
  
She shrugged carelessly as she closed the door behind her. "Good night to you too. And I think you can drop the title after Valentine's Day and all. It's Natalie." She casually moved and sat in the chair opposite his desk.  
  
He raised an eyebrow at her behavior. The other eyebrow joined the first as he realized that she remembered that day. "Why are you here?"  
  
She smiled and relaxed into the chair, "Well, after everything that has happened lately, I decided that I needed a small vacation. During this, I had plenty of time to consider things, like my relationship - or lack thereof - with your son. I also had time to consider the relationship between the two of you." She paused slightly as she saw his eyes flash gold before going back to their icy blue.  
  
"I assume that there is a point in all of this..."  
  
"Of course. I came to some very simple realizations. Firstly, I love Nick. Secondly, you love Nick. Thirdly, Nick loves us both but has too many 'issues' to deal with before he can admit it to either of us."  
  
"Your point?" his voice was beginning to take on some of the resonance of the vampire and she knew she would have to get to the part which would insure her survival.  
  
"My point," she said, rising and approaching the desk, "is that I have the solution to our problem."  
  
"And that is?"  
  
"It's simple, really. We," she gestured to him and herself, "declare a truce. I encourage him to mend fences with you, and you allow us to have a relationship."  
  
He barked a laugh as he now stood, "So I just stand back and allow you to 'cure' my son?! Hardly, Doctor. As long as you are looking for the 'cure', we will never be anything more than enemies."  
  
She watched him circle the desk and she hopped up so she was sitting on the edge of it. Smiling, she laughed, "Ah, then nothing stands in our way of being friends."  
  
He pulled up short, "You expect me to believe that you will stop looking for this 'cure'?"  
  
"No, I expect you to believe that I've already found it."  
  
"What?!" his eyes went gold and she could easily see his fangs.  
  
She waved her hand dismissively, "Yeah, about four months ago I stumbled upon the correct combination of drugs."  
  
"Four months ago?" he hesitated, not sure that he'd heard her right. "But Nicholas-"  
  
"Is still a vampire. Quite. You didn't think I was foolish enough to actually give him the cure, did you?! Puh-lease! I'm perfectly aware of how trouble-prone Nick is. He wouldn't survive a day of mortality."  
  
Lacroix, for the first time he could remember, was utterly speechless. Recovering, his eyes and teeth returned to normal, "Why should I believe you, Doctor?"  
  
She pulled a small notebook from her purse and tossed it on his desk. "The combination of drugs is in there. They're all drugs you can buy at any drugstore if you'd like to try it for yourself." She smirked at his look of disgust as he picked up the notebook.  
  
"And how do I know that you won't decide to give this information to Nicholas? I could just kill you now and be assured that he will never know of this."  
  
"I've made arrangements that this list will find its way into Nick's hands if I'm killed or I disappear. I told you, Lacroix, I have no intention of giving it to him. I have no desire to have Nick get himself killed. Anyways, I am able to admit that part of what I'm attracted to is the vampire. I fell in love with all of Nick, not just part of him." She smiled a cheeky smile up at the vampire before her, "So, do you think we can make a deal?"  
  
He paused, considering his options. It was possible that she was bluffing, but what if she wasn't? If he declared a truce with this irritating woman, he would gain his son's trust. Furthermore, if he were to encourage his son's relationship with this woman, his son would probably draw closer to him. She was right about the fact that he loved his son, not that he would ever admit it to her. In any case, this woman had what, maybe 40 years left? Then his son would return to him. Even if he decided to bring her across, she would further seal his son's place in the Community, even though that was probably not even a possibility - though one never knew...  
  
He quickly appraised the woman before him. He would never have anticipated their meeting tonight. She had a fire and a fearlessness which he admired. If it hadn't been for the fact that she was helping to 'cure' his son, he would probably have been interested in her himself. Of course, now that she no longer was working to take his son from him...  
  
Natalie appraised Lacroix as he silently considered her proposition. She had privately compared vampires to lions. Using this comparison, she saw Lacroix as the male of this particular pride who was afraid to lose a member of his family. She was almost surprised when he extended a hand to her.  
  
"It seems, my dear, that we have a deal. I will speak to Nicholas this morning and I expect you to uphold your end of the bargain. I will not tell him that we spoke tonight."  
  
She shook his hand and smiled gently, "Of course, Lacroix. It was never my intention to come between the two of you."  
  
"Indeed."  
  
She released his hand, hopped off his desk, and headed for the door, "Good night, Lucien."  
  
"Good night, Natalie. Oh, and next time you decide to visit, knock."  
  
She laughed as she let herself out. 


End file.
